{"id":871986,"date":"2026-08-25T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=871986"},"modified":"2026-08-25T16:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T14:45:20","slug":"businesses-in-south-africa-need-to-pay-their-workers-at-least-r20000-per-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wealth\/871986\/businesses-in-south-africa-need-to-pay-their-workers-at-least-r20000-per-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses in South Africa need to pay their workers at least R20,000 per month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South Africans are facing extreme cost pressures, and Professor Ines Meyer of the\u00a0Living Wage South Africa Network says that companies should pay their workers R20,000 per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The network&#8217;s latest study of 2,000 participants in South Africa revealed that R20,000 was the amount needed to live a decent life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the average respondent had net pay below R14,000, South Africans with net pay above R25,000 could live a decent life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The R20,000 figure was selected as the midpoint, as it allows South Africans to adequately satisfy the following criteria: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To realise the lives they value;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Save something for the future;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be prepared for occasional emergencies, like unforeseen medical costs, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enjoy a decent standard of living and human dignity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Meyer states that companies seeking to preserve their market share will eventually have to pay their employees at least a living wage amid calls for broader social reform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, many companies are still resistant because of legacy thinking that goes against what modern consumers expect from their vendors and employers,&#8221; said Meyer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africans who are employed can still live in poverty as they are underpaid in relation to the cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers who pay living wages do so voluntarily, and it differs from the legislated minimum wage, which compels companies to pay workers a rate not lower than the prescribed amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She noted that the concept of a living wage considers the income a human being needs to live with a measure of dignity, in accordance with the Constitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The arguments against don&#8217;t work <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-872002\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ines-Meyer.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Professor Ines Meyer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>South African companies typically have three main arguments against paying a living wage.\u00a0The\u00a0first\u00a0is that they cannot afford it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second states that the cost would mean letting go of employees or hiring fewer workers, which impedes job creation and increases unemployment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, they state that the difference between the income of the lowest- and next-highest-paid workers would be unfair to higher-skilled employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, data from the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggest that this is often a knee-jerk reaction, leading to flawed thinking and a lack of supporting data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research showed that the national minimum wage in South Africa did not result in corporate financial distress, higher unemployment or employee dissatisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A better approach than to ask \u2018can we afford it\u2019 would be \u2018how to make it happen\u2019 as paying less means we ensure we keep employees living in poverty,&#8221; said Meyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although companies may see the figures as an unwanted loss to their business, the WEF has identified many overriding benefits to the living wage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It allows for the retention of consumers who favour ethical companies that share their value of an equitable world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of the goodwill, lifting consumers out of poverty has been shown to grow consumer markets. Companies also often see less absenteeism, greater employee engagement and improved productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWorker poverty can adversely affect the entire organisation, including profits, so early adopters of a living wage initiative stand to benefit sooner and win a greater share of the market,\u201d said Meyer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professor Ines Meyer of the\u00a0Living Wage South Africa Network says that companies should pay their workers R20,000 per month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":858304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2092250907601752497","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2186306452189754","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17964331838966030","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9880],"tags":[20373],"class_list":["post-871986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wealth","tag-living-wage-south-africa-network"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872051,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871986\/revisions\/872051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}